The present invention relates to a lock device for locking and unlocking a locking subject related to a power port.
Vehicles that emit less carbon dioxide, such as plugin hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, are environment-friendly and have become popular. Such a vehicle is powered by a battery. When the battery drains after driving the vehicle over a long distance, the battery is recharged. The body of the vehicle is provided with a power port used to charge the battery. A charge cable of a charging facility is connected to the power port to supply power from the charging facility and charge the battery. The battery charging takes a long time. Thus, a charge cable lock device may be used to lock the charge cable to the vehicle body and prevent theft of the charge cable. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-081917 describes an example of such a charge cable lock device.
The charge cable lock device may lock and unlock the charge cable in cooperation with the locking and unlocking of the vehicle doors. However, when the charge cable locking is performed in cooperation with the door locking, the charge cable lock device may function in cooperation with the locking and unlocking of the vehicle doors even when the charge cable is not connected to the inlet. This may shorten the life of the lock device.